My B-day and Driving Under the Influence.

I was born Dec. 30th, 31 years ago. So two days ago Ben and I celebrated the life my mother and father gave me. It was a quiet day... not necessarily by choice either. Because that very morning Saddam Hussein was executed in Baghdad. I'm unsure of what was being reported in the USA, but across the media in India, riots were being reported to have broken out. Anti-Americanism was pretty high. So being wise but not frightened in any way, Ben and I re-evaluated my birthday plans for the day, and instead of an outing in a public setting we settled for lunch at a five-star restaurant. Ben ordered his first hamburger in 11 months and afterwards told me "I don't think I can drive home. I'd be driving under the influence... of beef." It's been a looong time since he's had that much beef--he actually had to force himself to eat the last two bites of the hamburger! I couldn't believe it myself. My beet/spinach salad was amazing.

That evening a gang of Indian friends dropped in. As Indian tradition teaches, I bought my own birthday cake. Then Ben fed me a slice of the chocolate cake, they sang, we ate, and the night lulled into the evening. It was a fun birthday. Not what we'd planned or expected (who does expect a world leader to be executed on their birthday?!), but that's exactly what we're getting more and more accustomed to... expect the unexpected in India.

Not only do I get a new age this year, I also get a new name... mom.